Changes

The book's working title was ''The Last Man in Europe'', but it was changed at the publisher's suggestion.<ref>It is often suggested that "eighty-four" is a reversal of "forty-eight", the year in which the book was written, but this has never been confirmed.</ref>  

The book's working title was ''The Last Man in Europe'', but it was changed at the publisher's suggestion.<ref>It is often suggested that "eighty-four" is a reversal of "forty-eight", the year in which the book was written, but this has never been confirmed.</ref>  

Orwell was influenced by the ideas of the American [[conservative]] [[James Burnham]]'s book ''The Managerial Revolution'',<ref>[http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21337504 1984: George Orwell's road to dystopia]</ref> which contains many of the same themes.  This helped to shape the political situation described in 1984.  Orwell also found influence in Jack London's novel ''[[The Iron Heel]]'', and Yevgeny Zamyatin's ''[[We]]''.   

Orwell was influenced by the ideas of the American [[conservative]] [[James Burnham]]'s book ''The Managerial Revolution'',<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21337504 1984: George Orwell's road to dystopia]</ref> which contains many of the same themes.  This helped to shape the political situation described in 1984.  Orwell also found influence in Jack London's novel ''[[The Iron Heel]]'', and Yevgeny Zamyatin's ''[[We]]''.   

Though Orwell was deeply critical of communism, it is debatable whether 1984 was intended as a condemnation of all forms of [[socialism]].  Orwell denied attacking socialism but that may have been essential self-preservation for a writer in the pro-socialism climate in [[Britain]] at the time. On the other hand, it is possible that Orwell, being acutely aware of the promotion of liberalism by large corporations in crony capitalist environments, believed that a form of socially conservative limited socialism was the best way to prevent the further erosion of freedom and traditional values.  Orwell wrote, in response to critics: "My recent novel [Nineteen Eighty-Four] is NOT intended as an attack on Socialism or on the [[British Labour Party]] (of which I am a supporter) but as a show-up of the perversions ... which have already been partly realized in Communism and Fascism. ...The scene of the book is laid in Britain in order to emphasize that the English-speaking races are not innately better than anyone else and that totalitarianism, if not fought against, could triumph anywhere."<ref>''The Collected Essays: Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 4,'' p. 546</ref>  1984 has a conservative message, and was influenced by the work of [[James Burnham|Burnham]].

Though Orwell was deeply critical of communism, it is debatable whether 1984 was intended as a condemnation of all forms of [[socialism]].  Orwell denied attacking socialism but that may have been essential self-preservation for a writer in the pro-socialism climate in [[Britain]] at the time. On the other hand, it is possible that Orwell, being acutely aware of the promotion of liberalism by large corporations in crony capitalist environments, believed that a form of socially conservative limited socialism was the best way to prevent the further erosion of freedom and traditional values.  Orwell wrote, in response to critics: "My recent novel [Nineteen Eighty-Four] is NOT intended as an attack on Socialism or on the [[British Labour Party]] (of which I am a supporter) but as a show-up of the perversions ... which have already been partly realized in Communism and Fascism. ...The scene of the book is laid in Britain in order to emphasize that the English-speaking races are not innately better than anyone else and that totalitarianism, if not fought against, could triumph anywhere."<ref>''The Collected Essays: Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 4,'' p. 546</ref>  1984 has a conservative message, and was influenced by the work of [[James Burnham|Burnham]].